Automatic marking device



`0t.8, 196s Y RGLLEE- l 3,404,628

' AUTOMATIC MARKING DEVICE 2 Shets-Shet 1 Filed my 11V, 41966 'ill-mm n?Jffl/ oct. s, 196s v R G *LEE y 3,404,628

AUTOMATIC MARKING'DEVICE' Filed July 11, 1966 2 ySheens-Sheet f UnitedStates Patent() 3,404,628 AUTOMATIC MARKING DEVICE Richard G. Lee,Weston, Mass., assignor to Alves Photo Service, Inc., Braintree, Mass.,a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 11, 1966, Ser. No. 564,308 6Claims. (Cl. 101-291) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A pair of rotatablymounted spools supporting a coil of ribbon for movement from one to theother along a predetermined path, a reciprocable striker movable intoengagement with the ribbon as it travels from one spool to the other toforcibly press the ribbon against an object to be marked, and a solenoidembodying la core rod movable in one direction simultaneously to rotatethespool upon which the coil is to be taken -up and retract the striker,and in the other direction to advance the striker to effect marking.

The principal objects are to provide a very small compact unit which maybe mounted on or attached to any machine or apparatus to or from whichthe strip material is being moved to apply marks at uniformly spacedintervals along one or both edges of a kind which may subsequently beemployed in conjunction with sensing means to control operations on thestrip; to provide a marking device which will apply clear, dense anduniform marks; to provide a device for marking which enables employing aribbon for carrying a marking pigment; to provide a device whi-chenables reversing the ribbon so as to make the most economical use of agiven length of ribbon; to provide a device which will automaticallystop just before the ribbon runs out and/ or produce a signal indicatingthe ribbon is about to run out; and to provide a `device which requiresvery little power and one which is comprised of relatively few andeasily obtainable components.

The device embodies means for supporting a ribbon for movement ofsuccessive portions to a place of marking, a striker at the place ofmarking supported for movement into engagement with one side of theribbon to cause transfer of a transferable material from the ribbon tothe object to be marked, power-operable means operably connected to thestriker to cause it to strike he ribbon, and a one-way cluchpreconditionable, by operation of the power-operable meanssimultaneously with the power operation of the striker. The clutch isoperable to effect movement of the ribbon a sufficient amount duringretraction o'f the striker to provide a fresh length thereof for thenext marking operation, and there is means operably connected to thestriker operable, following power operation thereof, to retract thestriker and simultaneously effect operation of the clutch. The ribbon isdrawn from one spool to another and when a spool is nearly empty thespools are removed to enable reversing them and using the ribbon overagain. Preferably there is means near each end of the ribbon operable,by making an electrical Contact with the ribbon guides, to terminateoperation of the device and sound an alarm.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tot-he accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a short length of strip material showing aplurality of uniformly spaced marks along one edge, such as are adaptedto be applied by the marking device herein illustrated;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the marking device showing a pair ofribbon-supporting spools in dot and dash lines;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the marking device showin-g the path ofthe ribbon at its place of contact with the object to be marked;

3,404,628 Patented Oct. 8, 1968 FIG. 4 is an elevation taken on the line4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view, to much larger scale, of the striker removed fromthe device to show its configuration in somewhat clearer fashion;

FIG. 6 is an elevation of the striker;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevation similar to FIG. 3, showing a modifiedform of pawl and ratchet;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section through the ribbon guide at theleft side ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the ribbon guide at the left side of FIG. 3;and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the electrical circuit containing a cut-offswitch and alarm for terminating operation of the printer and soundingan alarm.

Referring to the drawings (FIG. l), there is shown a strip 1 of sheetmaterial, such as |a strip of sensitized paper, on which has beenprinted a plurality of uniformly spaced compositions 2 which are to beseparated from one another by severing the strip transversely betweenthe printed'compositions. To accomplish this automatically it iscustomary toplace reference marks 3 along one edge of the strip whichmay be used to initiate operation of cutting mechanism to cut the stripinto sections, each of which bears the composition 2 centered withrespect to the cut edges. The present marking device is to applyreference marks 3 along one edge of the strip which will be uniform anddense so as to be completely effective in initiating operation of thecutting mechanism. It is to be understood that the reference marks maybe applied to either or both edges and that these may be employed toinitiate other operations on the strip than cutting.

While various kinds of means have been devised to hold a marking mediumfor transfer to the article to be marked, a ribbon bearing a pigment isthe simplest and most economical.

The marking device herein illustrated is designed to make use of aribbon by unwinding it from one spool and winding it onto another spooland by so mounting the spools that they can be reversed and the ribbonused over again.

Referring to the drawings (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) there is shown a hollowhousing 10 of substantially rectangular cross-section having front andback walls 10a, 10b which support a pair of shafts 12 and 14 in spacedparallel relation, with end portions 16 and 18 projecting from the frontwall 10a for supporting spools 20 Iand 22. The spool 20 carries a fullcoil of ribbon 24 and the spool 22 provides means `for taking up theribbon as it is drawn off the spool 20. As illustrated in FIG. 3, theribbon 24 unwinds from the underside of the spool 20 at the left,lpasses downwardly between guides 26a, 26bbeneath a striker 28 which, inFIG. 3, is shown holding lthe ribbon pressed against the surface to bemarked, indicated at 1, then upwardly between guides 32a, 32h and ontothe spool 22 at the right.

The front wall 10a of the housing contains a slot 34 through which thestriker 28, which will be described in greater detail hereinafter,projects forwardly into the path of the ribbon. The guides 26a, 26b and32a, 32b slope downwardly toward each other and are secured by bracketmembers 36a, 36b and 38a, 38h to the front w-all at opposite sides ofthe slot 34. Trhe guide 26a has transversely spaced guide fingers 36e(FIG. 9) for engagement with the opposite edges of the ribbon to preventlateral displacement thereof.

Each of the shafts 12, 14 (FIG. 2) has on its outwardly projecting endaxially spaced grooves within which are mounted elastic retainer rings40` and 42 for removably holding the spools 20 and 22 in place. Theelastic retainers permit easily removing the spools and reversing theirposition to enable transferring the ribbon from one spool to the otherfor as long as the ribbon |has enough pigment on it to make a distinctmark.

The shaft 12 is non-rotating and, as shown in FIG. 2, is secured at itsrear end by means of a screw bolt 44 to the back wall b of the housing.The shaft 14, however, is rotatably supported in bearing openings 46 and48 formed in the front and back walls of the housing, as shown in FIG.4. rThe shaft 14 is rotated intermittently to draw the ribbon off of thespool and wind it on the spool 22 in sufficient lengths to present afresh length to the striker for each operation. Feeding movement of theribbon is synchronized with the movement of the striker so that thefeeding takes place while the striker is on its back stroke and so thatthe ribbon is stationary when the striker is on its forward or workingstroke. The feeding movement of the ribbon is affected by rotating theshaft 14 and to this end' the shaft k14 has mounted on it a lgear 50`and oneway clutch 52 which permits the sgear 50 to rotate freely on theshaft in one direction and operates to connect the shaft to the gear sothat the latter rotates the shaft in the opposite direction. A ratchetwheel 54 is fixed to the shaft 14 adjacent the back wall, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 4, and a pawl 56 engaged therewith prevents rotation of theshaft in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, during the periodof time when the lgear 50 is being rotated relative to the shaft 14 toprecondition the drive for effecting a feeding movement of the ribbon.The pawl 56 comprises `a at spring metal finger secured to a bracketplate 58, the latter being screwed to the inside of the back wall of thehousing.

An alternative form of pawl 56a is s'hown in FIG. 7 pivotally supportedon t-he back Awall with one end provided with a tooth 56h engaged withthe ratchet wheel 54a and wit-h its other end connected to one end of aspring 56C. The opposite end of the spring is anchored to the back wall10a rearwardly of the pivot point so as yieldably to hold the pawlengaged with the ratchet Wheel.

The gear 50 meshes with a rack 60 formed on the core rod 62 of asolenoid 64 mounted in the housing at the left side, as shown in FIGS. 2and 3, below the shaft 12.1'I1he solenoid constitutes power-operablemeans for effecting operation of the marker. The core rod protr'udesfrom the coil of the solenoid and when the latter is excited is drawninto the coil, that is to the left as seen in FIG. 3. The distal end oft-he core rod has :an axially extending nub 62a which extends through ahole in the end wall of the housing and supports the rod during itsmovement so that there can be no deflection. Movement of the core rod tothe left rotates the gear 50 in a clockwise direction. However, sincethe shaft 14 is held against clock-wise rotation by the pawl 516 or 56a,as the case may be, the gear 50` is merely repositioned on the shaft 14so that it will rotate the shaft in the opposite direction acorresponding amount during the feeding movement to advance the ribbon.rIhe feeding movement of the ribbon takes place upon deenergization ofthe coil and movement of the core rod outwardly therefrom to its initialposition, this outward movement rotating the rgear 50 in acounterclockwise direction, and since the shaft 14 is now connected tothe gear by the clutch 52, rotating the shaft and the spool 22 thereonto take up a length of ribbon. The pawl 56a operates in exactly the samefashion as the pawl S6.

The striker 28 (FIGS 5 tand 6) comprises a head 66 having a narrowstriking surface corresponding in dimensions to the mark to be made,supported outside the front wall :of the housing between the guides 26a,26b and 32a, 32b on an anm havin-g a portion 68 extending through theslot 34 in the front wall and :a portion 70 inside the housing at rightangles to the portion 68 which is fastened to a boss 72 mounted on andsecured to a countershaft 74, the latter being journaled at its endbetween the front and back walls of the housing for rotation .about ahorizontal axis. The arm portion 70 and hence the head 66 areaccordingly movable abovut the axis of the shaft 74 as a center on aradius corresponding to the length of the arm portion 70. A gear segment76 is secured to the boss 72 and to the shaft 74 in a position so thatit also meshes with the rack 60 on the core rod. As thus constructed,when the coil is energized and the core rod retracted to the left, asshown in FIG. 3, t-he gear 76 is rotated in a counterclockwise directionso as to swing the arm portion 70 and hence the head -66 downwardly fromthe dotted line position shown in FIG. 3 to the full line position so asto strike the ribbon where it engages the object to be marked. Theaction of the solenoid is positive and rapid enough so that the head 66strikes the ribbon with a sharp blow thus insuring good marking, that is.a mark which is dense and uniform. As explained above, during the timethe marking head is being moved into engagement with the ribbon, thegear 5.0 is being repositioned relative to the clutch to effect the nextfeeding movement of the ribbon.

The striker 28 is restored to its 'inoperative position by a coil spring78 stretched in tension with one end connected to the arm portion 68 byengagement of a loop 80 within a hole 82, and t-he other end connectedto the front wall of the housing by a loop 84 engaged with the pin 86secured to and projecting inwardly from t-he front wall of the housing.The tension in the spring coupled with a relatively long lever armprovided by the arm portion 7() operates when the relay is de-energizedto rotate lche shaft 74 and hence the gear 76 in a clockwise direction,and, by such rotation, to pull the core rod outwardly from the coil as:well as to move h-e striker to its inoperative position. Movement ofthe core rod to its outer position as heretofore pointed out produces acounterclockwise rotation of the -gear 50 which is now clutched to theshaft 14 thereby rotating the lat-ter and causing the spool 22 to feed anew length of ribbon into a position beneath the striker for the nextmarking operation. T-he arm portion 70 is made sufficiently long so thatthe `head is substantially at right angles to the plane of the ribbonwhere it strikes the latter and to provide a [good lever action inretracting the striker and moving the core rod outwardly from its coil.

It is desirable to stop the marking device just before the ribbon runsout so that the end of the ribbon will not be pulled off the spool tfhusmakin-g it easy to reverse the spools for using the ribbon over again inthe opposite direction. To this end there is provided means forautomatically stopping the marker and/ or the machine with which it isbeing tused, and also, if desirable, tot sound an alarm to notify theoperator that the ribbon is about to run out. This is accomplishedherein by insulating the guides 26a, 26b from each other. Insulation isprovided for by means of a sheet of fish paper 2S (FIG. 8) in the orderof .010 inch thick placed between the bracket members 36a, 36b and byemploying nylon screws for fastening the bracket member 36a -to thebracket member 36b. Metal clips 27 (FIG. 10) are mounted on the ribbon afew inches from each end and as the end of a ribbon moves between theAguides 26a, 26b, a ground is made which effects energization of asolenoid 29 which, in turn, opens a switch 31 in the circuit containingthe solenoid 29 so as to disable it and also, if desirable, the drivemotor of the apparatus with which the marking device is employed. Ifdesired, an alarm in t-he form of a buzzer or a light 33 may :also beactuated by grounding of the circuit to call the operators attention tothe fact that the ribbon is about to run out.

The device, as thus described, is exceedingly simple, compact andefficient in operation, enables the use of la ribbon for carrying thetransfer material for marking purposes, enables using the ribbon overand over until the transfer material is completely used up, provides forwarning the operator of the fact that the ribbon is nearly used up andshould be reversed for further use, and is easily adaptable forinstallation -on most any kind of apparatus where there is strip feedingand it is desirable to mark the strip as it travels through the stripfeeding means.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose-of illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A marking device comprising `a pair of spaced parallel shafts, spoolson said shafts, one for giving up ribbon coiled thereon to the otherwhich is adapted to take up the ribbon, a striker mounted forreciprocable, substantially linear movement from a retracted position toa predetermined forward position along a predetermined path, means forguiding the ribbon as it travels from one spool to the other along apath intersecting the path of the striker so that the latter carries thepart of the ribbon in its path to said predetermined forward positionduring its forward movement, a rst gear mounted on the shaft carryingthe take-up spool, a countershaft parallel to the last-named shaft, alever on said countershaft to whichv the striker is attached, and bymeans of which the striker is reciprocated a second gear mounted on thecountershaft with its teeth confronting the teeth on the first gear, asolenoid provided with a core rod supported with the core rod betweenthe confronting gears for linear movement at right angles to -a planecontaining the axes of said shafts, and racks on the core rod engagedwith said gears.

2. A marking device according to claim 1, wv'herein said first gear isfree to rotate on its shaft in one direction but prevented from rotationin the opposite direction, and there is means for preventing rotation ofsaid shaft while the rst gear is being rotated relative to the shaft insaid one direction.

3. A marking device according to claim 1, comprising a clutch associatedwith the rst gear operable to prevent rotation of the rst gear relativeto its shaft in one direction but to permit its rotation in the otherdirection, a ratchet on the shaft, and a pawl cooperable therewithoperable to prevent rotation of the shaft in said one direction whilethe rst gear is being rotated relative to the shaft.

4. A marking device according to claim 1, wherein the solenoid effectsmovement of the core rod in a direction to advance the striker, and aspring connected to the striker arm is operable to retract the strikerand return the core rod to its initial position.

5. A marking device according to claim 1, wherein the guides have spacedguide mem-bers between which the ribbon moves, said guide members beingelectrically insulated from each other, means on the ribbon near eachend operable, as it moves between the guide members, to complete anelectric circuit, and means in the circuit operable to disable operationof the marking device.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, comprising means for sounding analarm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,251,162 7/ 1941 Payne 197-1742,304,386 12/ 1942 Vahle 101-292 2,323,438 7/ 1943 Zenner.

2,424,725 7/ 1947 Weimont lOl-336 2,458,339 1/ 1949 Buhler et al.197-174 X 2,821,284 1/1958 Garwood et al. 197-173 X 3,118,372 1/1964Weeks 101-336 3,310,810 3/1967 Greissman 197-170 ROBERT E. PULFREY,Primary Examiner.

F. A. WINANS, Assistant Examiner.

